By Victor Salazar

Passaic, NJ- The last time we saw ‘The Jersey Boy’ Glen Tapia (23-2,15 KO's), he suffered his second defeat in shocking fashion being stopped by Frenchman Michel Soro (27-1-1, 17 KO's). Had Tapia won that fight, he may have been in line for a title shot at 154-pounds. Tapia drained himself to make the 154-pound limit and admits that it definitely played a factor in his performance.

“It sucked,” said Tapia at the grand opening of his brand new gym, “Jersey Boy Boxing Club” in Passaic, New Jersey this past Saturday. “I had to lose like 13-pounds the week of the fight and I had to do it in like 3 days I think it was.  It was just draining and it was really hard.”

Tapia’s head trainer Freddie Roach had been pleading with Tapia to move up and since the loss to Soro, Tapia has finally obliged.

“Freddie Roach has been telling me to go up to 160 since like last year,” explained Tapia. “I just never really thought about it. He just told me now when I went back to LA that it’s time for you to show these people what you do in the ring, sparring against these great fighters like Cotto and other champions. I feel like you can’t do that because you’re draining yourself. So I think I finally heard him out and I think I’m going to move up in weight.

Tapia feels he will actually be able to train to box instead of train to lose weight.

“It’s a better look for me, you guys are the first ones to hear it but it was really hard, I definitely drained myself to make weight,” stated Tapia. “I even came 1-pound overweight the day of the weigh-in. The whole 5 week camp I trained to lose weight then to train for boxing.”

Tapia expects to return at the end of the year to make his debut in the Middleweight Division.

“Probably November or December,” said Tapia of his return to the ring. “I’ll head back to California in September. I already started training and running. But by September I’ll be in full camp.”